Crookshanks
by The Magic Bringer
Summary: Crookshanks plays matchmaker. HHr


Blech. H/Hr. Ah well, I've read worse. Now, I suppose I ought to go read it. Hum dee dum. Okay, major corrections are in orange. Also, your paragraphs are somewhat lacking… :\

All right. Onto the next one!

**Crookshanks**

**H/Hr: Crookshanks plays matchmaker. One-Shot**

Crookshanks was not a normal cat. In fact, Crookshanks was not even fully a cat. He was half Kneasle, and because of this, he was very intelligent. So when Crookshanks saw that his mistress and her friend were clueless about their _obvious _feelings for each other, he decided that he had to do something about it.

Now, Crookshanks knew that he, as a cat, couldn't do much. So, he took to following around his mistress' friend, the one that went by the name of Harry.

Harry groaned. "Go away, Crookshanks! Go back to Hermione!"

The cat just stared impassively at him. "Go, shoo," he made a fist and slammed it into the castle wall. "Go the hell away!"

Crookshanks didn't move an inch. "Fine then. _Be_ that way. I mean, it's not like you care, you're just a cat."

And that was how Harry found himself pouring out his heart and soul to a cat of all things. "It's just, you know, Crookshanks. I'll probably be dead by the end of the year, or, if I'm lucky, I'll live to graduation. So, I think that it's best if I just, don't talk to her. Maybe she won't hurt as much when I die then."

Crookshanks shook his head, and Harry stared at him, frowning. "Well, Sirius did say that you were smart. Maybe I will take your advice, but by Merlin, Crookshanks, you'd better be right, because I don't want to hurt her. God knows I love her too much; I'd never want to hurt her."

He shook his head, muttering to himself, and turned back to Crookshanks, giving him a sad smile. "Merlin, I'm going mad now, aren't I? Talking to animals." He stood up abruptly and made to leave.

"Crookshanks!" came a familiar feminine voice. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" she stopped. "Oh, and you're here too Harry?"

"Yes,"

"You missed dinner."

"No big deal. I'll go to the kitchens, Dobby will give me some food, do you want to come?"

"Well, yes, then."

Hermione scooped up Crookshanks, and they made their way down to the painted fruit bowl. Harry stopped to tickle the pear. "So how was dinner, anyway?"

"Dumbledore announced a ball. Costumes. On Halloween. I think he wants to lighten the mood, with the recent attacks and all."

"Oh." Crookshanks leapt out of Hermione's arms, and rubbed up against Harry, mewing, then up against Hermione. 'Come on!' he thought. But the humans were too thick to get his telepathic messages.

Harry ate while Hermione chatted to him. "I wonder who'll ask me to the ball? I mean, I'm not pretty, and Krum's not here anymore, and Ron's got Lavender, and you've got Parvati."

"No. Parvati _wants_ to have me, but I honestly can't stand her. I have no one." He told her.

"Oh. Well then," she said. They departed soon after, and Hermione, not being able to stand the uncomfortable silence, left and went to the library.

The ball drew nearer and nearer, and before they knew it, October was upon them. Seamus had ended up asking Hermione, and Harry was kicking himself for waiting too long. While he was going solo, Crookshanks was beginning to despair. He'd thought that his Mistress was smart. But obviously not.

Desperate, he took to the most drastic of drastic measures. One of the students had left their voice-activated quills lying around, and Crookshanks tampered with it for a bit before he deemed it ready.

"My Dearest,

Your eyes are deep enough to swim in, and your hair falls in luscious waves. You are my jewel,

Love,

Your secret admirer."

He picked up the parchment in his teeth, and leapt up to Hermione's dormitory, placing it on her pillow. That was sure to make Harry jealous. Maybe he would admit his feelings now.

Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. Hermione simply shook her head, thinking that someone had gotten the wrong bed, and placed it on Lavender's table.

Nonetheless, Crookshanks persisted, sending up to five letters a day, until Hermione finally started to complain.

"They keep putting it on the wrong bed! It is really, really, getting on my nerves. And the letters were so romantic, example: 'You are what keeps my heart beating, though when I see you, my heart does but race." She quoted from one of the letters.

"Hermione, did you ever think that someone might be writing them for you?" Lavender asked.

"No, why would they?"

"Well, you are the only single girl in the dorm, Emma and Shay have Terry and Ernie, Parvati is dating Dean this week, and I have my Ronnie." She smiled up at Ron, who gave her a teasing kiss in answer.

Crookshanks sighed grumpily.

It was the night of the ball. Crookshanks managed to sneak his way into the ball, under the guise that he was part of some Hufflepuff girl's costume. (She had picked him up and was cooing infuriatingly.)

Seamus was not dancing with Hermione, and Crookshanks had seen Harry leave earlier, so he rubbed up against her leg, and made sure she was following him, before he went and found Harry. Once they had found him, he left them alone.

"What are you doing out here, Harry?"

"Thinking."

"About what."

"How pretty you look," he told her.

She blushed. "Don't be silly."

"It's true, Hermione. You look absolutely stunning tonight."

"Do you think?" she asked self consciously.

Harry held her face in callused hands, tilting her face upwards to face him. "Would I have said it if I didn't?" he asked in a whisper.

Hermione's heart raced as their faces came closer and closer together. And, with neither one of them quite knowing what happened, their lips met. Their kiss was light and loving, their whole bodies tingling in sweetness. Harry's arms slowly rediscovered motion, and moved to her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her hands twined their way to his hair.

Crookshanks, from his where he was skulking behind a non-descript statue breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally!

**Authors Notes:**

Well, that wasn't the best thing I've ever written, but I find it hard to write fluff. Or romance. Or whatever. Tell me what you think! I wrote it Pre HBP (Obviously!). My friend and I were talking on MSN and we challenged each other to write about specific topics. This was one that I got (Harry/Hermione. Cookshanks playing matchmaker.) I really only wrote it to improve my skills at romance anyway. Now I need to try an action one shot! Feel free to challenge me!

- The Magic Bringer


End file.
